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OPINION

Last, best hope for justice in Tai Chan case

Sun-News editorial board
Published 6:26 p.m. MT Dec. 28, 2017

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Tai Chan, stands quietly as his attorney John Day speaks with the press gathered outside the court room where the jury could not come to a decision and a mistrial was declared. Tuesday May 23, 2017.(Photo: Josh Bachman/Sun-News)Buy Photo

On Oct. 28, 2014, a bloody crime was committed in Las Cruces, taking the life of a law enforcement officer. More than three years and two trials later, we are still awaiting justice.

Santa Fe County sheriff’s deputies Tai Chan and Jeremy Martin had stopped for the night on their way home from a prisoner transfer. Following a night of drinking, Martin was shot five times after they had returned to the Hotel Encanto. He later died at a Las Cruces hospital.

There has never been any dispute that Chan fired the fatal shots. But, two different district court juries in Las Cruces were unable to agree as the whether those shots were fired in self-defense, as he claims. As a result, both trials concluded in expensive, frustrating mistrials.

For the third trial, scheduled to start on April 9, District Attorney Mark D’Antonio has reached an agreement with the state Office of the Superintendent of Insurance to bring new prosecutors onto the case.

It is our hope that attorneys Troy Davis and Devin Chapman will be able to look at the witnesses and the evidence in a new light and bring a fresh perspective to an old case.

“We believe that fresh eyes and a rigorous prosecutorial perspective, implemented by a team of seasoned prosecutors such as Mr. Davis and Mr. Chapman, will effectively present this case to a jury,” D’Antonio said. He added that his office will still be involved with the case.

There have been a number of troubling revelations since the fatal shooting. Most disturbing are allegations by Las Cruces Police Detective Irma Polis made in a lawsuit against the police department alleging that her investigation into the Chan shooting was intentionally hampered by fellow LCPD officers in retaliation for her role in exposing the criminal behavior of a former officer.

Those allegations have provided additional ammunition for defense attorneys, who have argued that the investigation was not conducted properly, and have made winning a conviction much more difficult.

It is rare for a case to come to trial for a third time. There is disappointment for all sides in a mistrial – a feeling that the task has not been completed. The obvious question a prosecutor needs to ask before going to the expense of a retrial is, what will be different this time.

The addition of two new prosecutors provides an obvious answer to that question.

It is estimated that the first two trials cost taxpayers about $30,000 each, according to District Court Judge Fernando Macias, who presided over both. That needs to be considered, but, we don’t think cost should circumvent the search for justice.

D’Antonio said he decided to take the case to trial a third time after consulting with members of Martin’s family.

It is our hope that this third trial will finally provide a verdict and some measure of closure. If Chan was justified in firing to defend his life, he should be able to get on with the rest of his life without this cloud hanging over his head. If, on the other hand, he was not justified in firing the fatal shots that claimed the life of his partner, he should have to pay the price for that crime.

We never dreamed in October 2014 that we would still be dealing with this case now. But given that reality, we think the addition of new prosecutors offers us the last, best hope for justice.